Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison inmates are aged (a) between 60 and 65, (b) between 66 and 70, (c) between 71 and 75, (d) between 76 and 80 and (e) over 80 years.

Prison is the right place for serious, dangerous and persistent offenders. Since 2010, those who break the law are more likely to be sent to prison.

Over the last ten years the number of prisoners in England and Wales aged 60 and over has risen each year. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is working hard to ensure that prisons are equipped to meet the needs of this group, including through the commissioning of health and social care services.

The table below shows the population of prisoners by specified age groups in all prison establishments in England and Wales, from the most recent available data at the end of March 2014.

Providing information on a single individual that is personal and potentially disclosive, such as the age of the oldest prisoner in England and Wales, would be contrary to our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. There were, however, five prisoners aged 90 or over as of 31 March 2014.